Waycross Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Waycross Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 1.1% in Q2, owning 246,830 shares worth approximately $50.6 million, making it Apple's 4th largest holding for the firm.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly increased their positions in Apple, with Kingstone Capital Partners raising its stake by an astonishing 573,627.2% during the same period.
• Apple recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 15.78%.

Waycross Partners LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 246,830 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,669 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.8% of Waycross Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Waycross Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $50,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in Apple by 573,627.2% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 27.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,870,795,000 after acquiring an additional 14,651,321 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 0.3%

Apple stock opened at $258.02 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.69. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush set a $310.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $247.49.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.

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